01/28/2023 2:15 pm (act. 01/28/2023 2:20 pm)
The brothers could only be recovered dead ©APA/NEWS5
A pair of brothers probably collapsed and died in a slightly frozen reservoir in southern Thuringia. The 22-year-old and her 13-year-old brother were rescued dead by divers from the water reservoir near Westhausen in the Hildburghausen district on Saturday morning, police commissioner Vivien Glagau said. There was a breach in the reservoir, which was covered in a thin layer of ice. “It was just a short drive from the coast.”
The layer of ice on the lake was only two to three centimeters thick – not enough to carry two people’s load. It is still unclear when and why the two ran into the lake.
According to the police, the two were traveling by car on Friday. They were last seen around 4pm. When the young woman and her brother did not answer the phone, the concerned parents first went looking for their children. Just before midnight, the mother then alerted the police: they had discovered her daughter’s car in the reservoir.
Police and lifeguards then searched for the brothers in large numbers. A police dog was also on duty. Divers finally retrieved the woman and boy on Saturday morning around 8:30am – both of them lifeless.
“We assume an accident,” said Glagau. There are currently no signs of third-party debt. Kripo Suhl is leading the further investigation into the accident.
Initially, the parents could not be questioned in detail. They were attended to by a crisis intervention team.